PARKERSBURG, WV – Tomorrow, Chemours will discuss its financial performance during its Q3 Quarterly Earnings Call (listeners can access the call by visiting investors.chemours.com). Chemours is a company saddled with massive debt, exposure to billions of dollars in lawsuits and remediation obligations, mounting defense costs related to ongoing litigation, and declining profitability and cash flow.

“Chemours’ lack of transparency about how they are accounting for C-8 liabilities, which could be in the billions, as well as speculation about restructuring has victims of C-8 contamination and community members in the mid-Ohio Valley highly concerned, “ said Joe Kiger, Advisor to Keep Your Promises. “Those harmed by C-8 deserve to know how they will be compensated for their injuries, but DuPont and Chemours continue to fail to provide clarity on this point.”

1. Given the potential that Chemours could be acquired or could undergo a restructuring or a bankruptcy, who is responsible for the C-8 liabilities? During the Q2 Earnings Call, CEO Vergnano stated that “there is no link back to DuPont” on the C-8 liabilities, and we believe this to be an inaccurate statement in general and surely concerning punitive damages arising from the C-8 litigation.

2. How much has Chemours accrued for the potential $5 billion cost of C-8 liabilities, as cited by Bloomberg? Additionally, how has Chemours accrued for the dozens of other sites requiring environmental remediation? As stated by Chemours leadership in the Q2 Earnings Call, “It will take some level of activity or some level of determination of outcomes before we’ll be able to book a reserve.” Now that the first C-8 trial has resulted in a $1.6 million award for the plaintiff, by its own actionable criteria Chemours should have accrued for these liabilities.

3. Is Chemours’ management and board aware of C-8 testing that has been done along the Ohio River between the Washington Bottom facility and Cincinnati? Has Chemours informed stakeholders of the results of that testing and taken into account those results when considering future liabilities, including potential future classes for C-8 litigation?

4. How is Chemours accounting for the possibility of future liabilities given the latest science, which indicates that C-8 contamination is more widespread and a more serious problem at lower doses than previously believed? In June, the scientific journal New Solutions published a paper by Philippe Grandjean of the Harvard School of Public Health and Richard Clapp of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell that termed 0.001 ppb the “approximate” safe level for C-8 contamination, a threshold significantly lower than the EPA’s advisory level of 0.4 ppb. This new research indicates that millions of more people may be at risk of C-8 related diseases than previously believed.

The significance of these issues cannot be overstated. Chemours, a new company saddled with an enormous amount of debt, may have potentially devastating liabilities for which it has not accrued reserves.

In short, it appears that Chemours may not be a viable company when the full extent of liabilities is realized. This is a deeply disturbing thought for those suffering from diseases caused by C-8 contamination, and all residents of the mid-Ohio Valley and stakeholders in Chemours must demand answers on tomorrow’s Q3 Earnings Call.

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Campaign Partnership

The Keep Your Promises campaign was developed in partnership with the Action Network Fund, a nonprofit organization that empowers citizens to stand up for their communities and their livelihoods in the face of corporate abuse.